


Joey and the Orichalcos

by IcyPheonix



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Role Reversal, Seal of Orichalcos, dub name usage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-19 19:29:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12416559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyPheonix/pseuds/IcyPheonix
Summary: All Joey wants is to be taken seriously for once, to not have his accomplishments treated like a joke. And then he meets someone who promises him exactly that.It's not Mai that Valon finds depressed and alone in that alley, but Joey.





	Joey and the Orichalcos

**Author's Note:**

> It's exactly what you think it is, a season 4 role swap, where it's Joey, not Mai, that is taken in by the power of the Orichalcos.  
> (I even wrote an entire [meta post](http://authoratmidnight.tumblr.com/post/127643016295/because-i-am-just-going-to-be-mean-a-what-if) about the idea)
> 
> I actually wrote this a while ago but decided to cross post this here from my tumblr, with some fixes.

“Well Joseph, have you made your decision? Join us, or walk away?”  
  
  
The blond was quiet, eyes fixated on the dark green stone in front of him and the promise of power, to make something of himself. He winced slightly, nursing a split lip and a bruised jaw from an earlier fight, before his mind drifted back to the events that lead to where he was.

  
  
_It hadn’t been a good day, first there was getting out of the house before his father woke up, and the drunken, slurred words as he shut the door told him he’d only just made it. It only got worse as he had a run in with a gang, resulting a busted lip and several nasty bruises and some stinging insults._  
  
_With a frustrated groan he slammed his fist into the brick wall, using the pain in his hand to distract him from the other injuries._  
  
_“You looks like you’re having a bit of a rough time there mate,” came a heavily accented voice from somewhere to his right._  
  
_“Oh yeah, you wanna go too? Cause I’m not exactly in a good mood alright?” he snapped back as someone walked out of the shadows towards him. A quick look at them told him they were a biker, dressed in riding leathers and padding and a pair of goggles strapped to his head and buried in thick brown hair._  
  
_“Hey now, I’m not looking for a fight, but you look like you haven’t got a friend in the world,” he said, holding his hands up defensively._  
  
_“Hey, I got plenty of friends got it?” he snapped at the biker. “They’re just busy today.”_  
  
_The other man tilted his head, “That a duel-disk you got there?” he asked. “You a duelist?”_  
  
_“Yeah, so what if I am?”_  
  
_“Why don’t we have a duel then, just a friendly one, you look like you could use the distraction.”_  
  
_The duel was a curb stomp, Valon, as he learned his name was, easily beating a distracted Joey._  
  
_“Aw come on, how did I lose?” He sunk to his knees in defeat, maybe he really was just an amateur who’d gotten lucky after all._  
  
_“You talk a good game, but it didn’t look like your heart was really in it,” said Valon with a sigh and shrug. ”To bad, I was hoping for a good duel, especially from you.”_  
  
_He scowled, “You just got lucky that’s all, and I’m having a bad day. I’ll have you know I took second place at Duelist Kingdom and runner up in Battle City.”_  
  
_Valon smirked, and gave a low whistle “Issat so? Then I really should have gotten a better duel outta you. Those wins musta just been luck.”_  
  
_“You take that back!” Grabbing Valon’s collar he slammed the man into the alley wall. “Joey Wheeler is no amateur, I got that far on my own, with my own skills. Sure, I may have had some luck, but I have skills too.”_  
  
_Valon smirked, pushing his hand down, apparently unphased bu the attempted attack. “You got spunk you know that? But right now, it sounds like you need someone to talk to.”_  
  
  
_And talk he did, though Joey wasn’t even sure why. He barely knew this Valon fellow and yet he just kept talking, venting his frustrations about his life, about not being taken seriously no matter what he did, about life in general. He’d taken on an Egyptian god card and held his own, yet no one seemed to care. And all the while Valon listened attentively, absentmindedly twisting around the green stoned ring on his finger._  
  
_“You know,” he said as Joey finished, “I know someone who can ‘elp you, I’m sure he’d love to meet ya. Come on, why don’t I take you to meet him?”_  
  
  
And so he found himself in front of this man, Dartz, and the green stone that he promised would solve his problems, one way or another. All he had to do was take it.  
  
“Well, I haven’t got all day.”  
  
He clenched his eyes shut, he was tired of being second best, tired of being mocked and ridiculed, especially by the jerk in the suit Kaiba. It wasn’t fair, he tried and tried but what did he get, nothing, no respect at all, even his own friends teased him. Was it really so much to ask to be taken seriously for once, to not have his accomplishments treated like nothing?  
  
Looking back to the stone he felt his resolve steel itself in his heart, he was going to show them, to show the world that he could do it, that he was strong.

Before he was even aware of what he was doing his hand curled tightly around the vibrant green stone and a piercing heat seared through him. It burned as it travelled through his arm and coursed through his veins. His skull began to pound as the burning sensation settled in there. He could hear them, all the voices that had even put him down, they were screaming in his mind, amplified a hundred times over. Voices that threatened to make him let go of the stone. But he held fast, they weren't going to get to him this time. The cacophony of the voices rose and grew in volume till it was all he could hear.

Then, silence.  
  
  
Datrz watched with a satisfied grin as Wheeler took the stone in his hand, the power of the Orichalcos surging through him. For him it was a win no matter the outcome, either he’d get a powerful new pawn, or a new soul to power the Great Beast.  
  
The harsh green glow faded and Joey remained standing, legs shaking and panting heavily as he clutched the stone in one hand.  
  
Dartz smiled and held his arms wide and welcoming.

“Welcome Joeseph, it seems you passed the test. I do believe you’ll be a perfect fit here.”


End file.
